


Powerless

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Coda, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 09:51:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12454902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Coda to episode 204. Mac has nightmares. Jack’s worried. Cage gives advice. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Powerless

“You’re worried about him,” Cage comments softly, making sure that her voice doesn’t carry over the hum of the engines, as she shuffles a deck of cards.

They’re in the company jet, flying south, on a simple, straightforward mission to save some bigwig’s progeny from the dire consequences of her own foolishness. Matty thought it best to ease them back in slowly after their harrowing encounter with Murdoc last week. Also, she thought it unlikely that they would encounter their pet psycho in the jungles of Peru. Jack’s just glad she didn’t send them to Egypt.

He glances at Cage, then he turns back to MacGyver whom he’s been watching covertly - or not so - since they arrived at the airport. They’re sitting at the front of the plane, playing cards - or pretending to play cards since Jack folded pretty much all his hands so far, having his mind elsewhere - while Mac’s trying to rest in the back. Emphasis on  _trying_ because even from over here Jack can see how tense Mac is: he has his hands clenched into fists and his eyebrows furrowed in a frown even in his sleep. So yes, Jack  _is_ worried. And he admits it to Cage because there’s really no point in denying it.

She sets the card deck aside. “It’s normal to have a few nightmares after what he had been through,” she assures him gently.

But Jack shakes his head. “Not for Mac, it isn’t. I’ve known the kid for almost ten years now and I’ve watched his back for most of them, back in Afghanistan and then over here, working for Phoenix. I’ve seen him beaten, shot, taken hostage, betrayed… I watched him disarm IEDs under heavy fire! And he’s never lost sleep over any of it.”

He looks back at Mac who just turned on the couch, curling up in his sleep. “But this time, it’s different.  _Something_ about that lunatic rattled him to the core. He is not just having nightmares, many nights he doesn’t sleep  _at all_. I might not be as smart as he is, but I have eyes in my head - and I  _know_ him. Murdoc managed to…  _crack_ something fundamental inside him.”

Cage thinks about it for a moment, then she nods slowly. “It’s all about control, Jack,” she explains quietly. “No matter the danger, Mac’s always felt in control of the situation, there was always a way out, he just had to find it. But Murdoc took that away from him. The man seems to know everything about any one of us - but  _especially_ about Mac. And he takes a perverse delight in making sure Mac knows it. He made a point of proving to Mac that he could get to him anytime and anywhere and do anything he wanted - and get away with it.”

Jack grits his teeth. “He’s playing mind games with our boy.”

Cage nods again. “Yes. And he’s  _really_ good at it. To take someone’s control away, leaving that person feeling powerless, that’s a very effective tool, Jack,” she warns, then she adds even more quietly, “It’s the first step to  _breaking_ them.”

Glaring, Jack shakes his head. “Not Mac.”

But Cage looks him straight in the eyes. “Anyone can be broken.  _Anyone_! You, me, even Matty - and Mac.  _Especially_ Mac. Those who’ve always felt in control are the most easily broken when you know how to go about it, where to push. And Murdoc  _knows_ , Jack. He knows  _very well_.”

Jack’s about to protest, to insist that she’s wrong, that Mac can’t broken, not Mac,  _never_ him, that kid’s just too strong and stubborn to give in to a lunatic like Murdoc - but in that moment Mac shoots upright on the couch, gasping loudly for breath. He looks around wildly with wide open eyes and face bathed in sweat.

“Mac? You okay there, buddy?” Jack calls out, voice kind and soothing.

Mac stares at him blankly for a heartbeat or two, breathing harshly, then he blinks and awareness returns to his eyes. He drops his feet to the floor and hides his face in his hands, rubbing hard, to give himself a moment to gather his wits.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mac responds finally, after a while, in a voice that’s a little hoarse, maybe from sleep, maybe from something else, glancing at Jack and then away again quickly. “Fine. I’m fine. I just–” He takes a deep, shuddery breath and gets up. “I’ll just go and… wash.” And with that he disappears in the tiny bathroom at the back of the plane.

Jack stares after him with a frown. He was worried about Mac before, but then, he’s always worried about Mac, it has become his damn mission in life to watch out for the kid. But it didn’t even occur to him that this thing, whatever it is, could be something that Mac might not bounce back from like he did so many times in the past. Now though, after talking to Cage, he isn’t simply worried, no, he feels downright apprehensive,  _anxious_ even.

Cage who didn’t turn around when Mac woke up, giving him space, reaches out for the deck of cards. “Another game?” she offers.

Glaring at her, Jack takes a deep breath, intent on telling her where exactly she can shove her damn card game, because his instincts are screaming at him to go after Mac, to  _make_ him talk, to  _force_ Mac to tell him what the hell’s going on so that Jack can  _fix_ it for him - but he can’t, he can’t do that, can he? Because this is not something that can be fixed with pummeling fists or blazing guns - unless Murdoc were the intended target, that is.  _Goddamn it!_

Jack lets his breath out, deflating. “Why the hell not,” he grumbles, cracking his knuckles belligerently, angry at the world, at Murdoc - at his own helplessness.

With a small smile and eyes full of understanding, Cage starts shuffling the cards again. They have a long flight ahead of them.


End file.
